5 First Aid Tips for Cuts and Wounds

When there is an injury present, blood usually follows right after. Bleeding is the body's way of trying to clean out the wound on it's own. The blood pushes out anything that may get inside and cause irritation or infection. It's important to take the right steps after getting injured to make sure you can heal.

1. Cleansing the Wound

The first order of business when dealing with cuts and wounds is to clean them off. Water is a great choice to clean the wound to prevent infection. It slows the flow of blood to the entire injured area. Soap and other anti-bacterial products can also sometimes be of use. If you decide to use these, be careful. Wash around the cut or wound and make sure not to get it inside or over the wound. Washing inside it can irritate the area and cause inflammation. This may hinder the effect to stop the bleeding.

2. Direct Pressure

After the wound or cut gets cleaned, direct pressure needs to get applied right away. Pressure can get applied with any type of cloth or wound care supplies available—even clothing if you need to. If the bleeding soaks through the gauze or cloth, do not remove the article from the area. Instead, apply more cloth or gauze on the top. Apply pressure for at least 10 to 15 minutes. Do not check to see if the bleeding has stopped until after those minutes pass. If the wound is more serious, pressure points in the body can be of use depending on the location of the cut or wound.

3. Elevating

After the wound is clean and while pressure is being applied, elevate the effected area. This is best for body parts like arms and legs. If the cut or wound is on the head or on a different part of the body, try to keep it as upright as best as you can. While elevating, make sure the area is above the heart. Keep the legs or arms above the heart as that will guarantee the least amount of blood flow that will get directed to that area. The bleeding will subside faster and help your efforts to clot the blood.

4. Rest and Relaxation

Being well-rested and relaxed is very important to help your body to recover and heal from the cut or wound. Movement creates more of a flow of blood around the body. If you're moving the effected area, even more blood will flow in that direction of the open area. If the blood has stopped and a clot has formed, it's pretty easy for you to start bleeding again. The best thing to do is rest and move the affected area as little as possible. Your body will heal faster the less you move around. You will not have to tend to the cut or wound as many times when you make sure to relax.

5. Dressing

After the wound or cut gets taken care of, it is important to take care of and dress the area. Using wound care supplies and medication to cover the area establishes a protective barrier for the wound. Open wounds/cuts are very sensitive otherwise. It makes it easy for bacteria or environmental toxins to enter. The dressing may contain a bit of blood in the beginning, which is makes it an important reason to change everyday. Using wound care medications (such as an ointment), is helpful in speeding up healing. This is especially true when in combination with dressing bandages. This combination will also lessen the chance of developing scars.